In the last post Thankful passed to new hands. I knew she was in good hands when Jon, her new owner, decided to “re-launch” her in her symbolic place of birth. Her “mom”, the Queen Anne, was built by Caleb Chase of Newcomb, NY for the Pryun family who owned Great Camp Santanoni. I reproduced the Queen Anne when building Thankful.
Caleb Chase had his home, shop, and farm on Rich Lake in Newcomb. My son Stew and I originally launched Thankful on Rich Lake as a salute to the old master boat builder Caleb. It seems right to honor this old gentleman by bringing back his “progeny” to their place of origin for a ritual bath in Rich Lake.
Rich Lake is a beautiful Adirondack Lake. Its gently sloping white sand beach is secluded with no evidence of human presence.
Here is a narration of the launch day’s events provided by Jon:
“On Monday we met John, along with his boat and a stretch of glorious weather, for a beautiful outing on Rich Lake. After a quick rendezvous at the Adirondack Information Center, we proceeded to the launch on Rich Lake. My wife and daughters were along as well.
We carried Thankful from the upper parking lot and doubled back for John’s boat. We launched with my wife and children in Thankful, and John solo in his boat. We headed up to the marshes of Fishing Creek, quickly noting how smoothly she pulled through the water. The lake was mirror-calm, and Thankful had no problem holding a line. We were entertained by a charismatic loon who put on a small show for us, at much closer range than we are accustomed to from these beautiful birds. Perhaps he recognized the boat? We returned along the opposite shore to the gorgeous beaches for the children to swim.
At this point, I jumped into the middle seat, and along with John and his boat, we headed around the point and did a short row up one of the other bays. We returned to the beach to switch boats, and give John a chance at Thankful’s oars. We both agreed that the boat moves flawlessly and was a joy to see on the water. I was also thrilled to have a chance to row John’s beautiful boat as well.
We took her [Thankful] out several more times during the week from our camp on [the Fulton Chain] and had plans to take her up to South Inlet on Raquette Lake to Sagamore, but ran out of time.
She really is a beautiful craft, and we look forward to years of enjoyment from her.”
